News is information about events which have happened or will happen in the near future. It also consists of news about people, places and things which are interesting or significant. News is often presented in a way which catches the reader’s attention and holds his interest.
A good way to judge whether a story is News or not is to consider how many of the following criteria it meets: It must be new, unusual, interesting or significant. A story which satisfies all of these criteria is likely to be very good indeed.
It must be about people, or at least about something which affects people. This includes events and conditions which affect the health, safety or welfare of people. It is not news, however, that a man wakes up and goes to work on the bus; it is ordinary, everyday and so uninteresting that it is unlikely to make any newspaper.
The story must be about recent events. It will not do a paper much good to report on an event which happened last week; by the time it is published it will be old news and no one will care about it anymore.
It is important that the story be a matter of public concern. This includes not only natural disasters and accidents, but also crime and political events. It is not usually news that a man dies of influenza, but it will be news if an outbreak of the disease affects large numbers of people.
The facts must be true and must be reported in a way which is accurate. Similarly, the story must be balanced and give both sides of the argument. A journalist should check his facts carefully and he should not include in his story any opinion which he does not firmly hold himself.
After listing all of the main facts, a news article should conclude with any additional information which is relevant to the story and will help the reader to understand it fully. This may include details about how the event occurred or quotes from interviews with witnesses to the event. It is a good idea to use the inverted pyramid style for writing your news article; this means placing the most important information at the beginning and then providing more detail as you progress through the article. The lead should always be well crafted, as it will determine whether or not the reader continues with the article. It is a good idea to use bullet points for your headline, as this helps to make the article clear and easy to read. The title should be brief and snappy, using AP style if possible (unless otherwise specified by your publication). The lead should also include the name of the writer. This is known as the byline. This is the name by which the author will be identified in subsequent issues of the publication. This is a way of showing that the news is written by a person who is interested in the subject and who takes an active role in reporting it.